What is Muslim Impossible?

Muslim Impossible reviews fictional Muslim and Arab characters in film, TV and literature that are unbelievable, poorly-researched or prejudiced.  

 

It was founded to combat the lazy writing, production and characterisation of Muslims and Arabs that has been around for over a century, and that goes largely unchallenged.

 

It also draws attention the misuse and Orientalisation of Muslims and their countries as narrative tools that add mystery, exoticism and danger to white, non-Muslim storylines, while neglecting to afford Muslims the same depth of character.

 

Muslim Impossible aims to challenge poor research that wouldn’t be accepted in any other areas of literature, film or television. In books, this often surfaces and the perpetuation and promotion of colonial or war narratives in Arab countries without modern contextualisation. While on screen, the norm is to portray Muslims as homogenous, one-dimensional and violent.

 

In all media, I’ll be challenging the framing of Muslim men as aggressive, incompetent, uneducated or lecherous, and the portrayal of Muslim women as sexually exotic, submissive or violent. 

 

There is a wealth of impossible Muslims already out there, and I’ll be adding new reviews once a month.

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